HELENA, Mont. - After a month-long fall camp, the Carroll College Women's Soccer team will see their first official action of the 2026 season this weekend with a pair of games in Florida against No. 1-ranked Keiser and St. Thomas.

If the Fighting Saints ('25: 7-5-5) were looking for a challenge at the top-end of their 2026 slate of games, they certainly found one. Carroll is set to open the season against the NAIA's top ranked team, the defending national champion Seahawks from Keiser on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. (MDT). Saturday morning, the Saints will bounce over to Miami Gardens for an 11 a.m. showdown with St. Thomas.

In preparation for the tough Florida swing to start the year, Carroll has worked hard all offseason on coming together as a group, with all 11 players on the pitch working together as one. The roster saw significant turnover in the offseason, as Head Coach David Thorvilson had to replace 10 graduating seniors from the 2025 team.

"Obviously you love all your seniors, but the benefit of any graduating class is that you're rebuilding, restarting, and get the opportunity to implement new things." said Thorvilson of the changes to the Carroll roster "Buy-in from the returning 12 is very high, and there's a lot of excitement for the new group of different things you're going to be able to do."

The 2026 recruiting class was largest classes in program history, as 12 new additions were brought in to bolster the roster this summer. The substantial class features 10 freshmen, as well as a pair of transfers in Carmen Anderson (Missoula, Mont. / JR) and Adison Stoddard (McCall, Idaho / JR). Anderson, a transfer from Central Washington was the 2024 Montana Gatorade Player of the Year, and the state's all-time prep assists leader. Stoddard spent the last two seasons at North Idaho College, totalling 11 pionts last season for the Cardinals.

Among the freshmen additions, both Bailey Koster (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) and Gabrielle Lougen (Camas, Wash.) flashed their potential in Carroll's three early season scrimmages.

Perhaps Carroll's greatest strength resides in the back third of the pitch - a pair of former high school teammates at Billings West in Maria Ackerman and Avery Lambourne. The two seniors have been outstanding in their three seasons on the Hilltop, each earning All-CCC honors in all three seasons. Thorvilson knows how big of a benefit it is to have a pair as sound as anyone anchoring this year's defense.

"The hope is that our defense is in a very good spot heading into the year." said Thorvilson "But, we're also going to have a brand new center back, brand new outside back, our midfield changes quite a bit, and we're trying to get healthy with some players out on our front line. So what we're looking for, and what we're excited for is that we have tremendous leadership from our four captains - Maria, Avery, Delaney Moczan (Las Vegas, Nev. / R-JR), and Rachel McAllister (Brier, Wash. / JR) - setting the tone in all three areas on the field for us, and bringing the rest of the players along."

Moczan, the leading goal scorer in the Cascade in 2024, missed nearly the entirety of the 2025 season with a knee injury. McAllister took control in her absence, tying for the team lead with 10 points on the season. The talented tandem will likely play a big role in any success the Saints see in 2026.

After earning the final spot into last year's CCC Championship, then giving No. 1-seed College of Idaho a run for their money in a 1-0 extra time loss in the quarterfinals, the Saints were selected fifth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Getting in games against quality non-conference competiton could prove highly beneficial for the team as they look to contend for the league crown beginning in September.

Following this weekend's pair in Florida, Carroll will host another two games in Helena next weekend before CCC play begins in the middle of the month.

Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com both Saturday and Sunday evenings for a full recap of each game, and for complete coverage of the Fighting Saints all season long.